Today, I’ll give a few examples how to use a “contextualization map,” which I explained in my previous post. A “contextualization map” helps you introduce the gospel when you only have 3–5 minutes. Such brief conversations are insufficient to present the gospel in a meaningful way. The primary goal of this kind of “elevator pitch” is simply this: help people understand the gospel is worth their attention so that we get more time to explain the message more clearly. The following... Read more
Here are three reasons to check out the most recent issue of Themelios (an academic journal run by The Gospel Coalition). 1. An excellent review of One Gospel for All Nations: A Practical Approach to Biblical Contextualization I never claimed to be objective here. I will say that the review does a very good job of summarizing and interacting with the book. The reviewer does a service of anyone interested in reading it or who simply wants to reflect on... Read more
If we only have 3–5 minutes, can we still contextualize the gospel? I think we can. (This and the next week, I build my previous post “Evangelism or “Elevator Pitch.”) What gets in our way? Two obstacles get in the way of contextualizing the gospel even for a 3–5-minute conversation. First, many gospel presentations are contextualized for the wrong person––the speaker. Why? In a time-crunch, we default to sharing whatever we understand best. As a result, our message is tailored... Read more
Recently visionSynergy and HonorShame.com facilitated a global online conversation about ministering and leading in honor-shame contexts. Here’s is a great tool that came from that discussion. It’s concise, which makes it an easy to use tool to spur learning, reflection and discussion among teams and organizations. At the same time, there is a diverse range of responses. Below, you can get a peak at the PDF document. After you download and read it, please share it with others. Initiate your... Read more
What’s the distinction between evangelism and an elevator pitch? If you look at how we actually do evangelism, can you see a real difference in practice? Is it true most methods of evangelism are little more than elevator pitches? Do you recoil at the suggestion? Most people I know would object. Why? Elevator pitches are typically associated with business marketers. Perhaps, you think of smarmy salespersons who simply want to sell you a pile of goods with no genuine interest in your well... Read more
This past weekend, I had the pleasure of being interviewed with Nick Peters, who runs the Deeper Waters podcast. He regularly interviews theologians, missiologists and others concerning various issues related to the church. To listen to the podcast via iTunes, click here. To access the podcast via the Deep Water blog site, click here. The YouTube version can be found here. In the podcast, we discuss how to share the gospel in a biblical faithful and culturally meaningful way.... Read more
A number of people have expressed interest in the discussion (from last week’s post) concerning the relationship between the Plan of Salvation and honor-shame cultures. When I first wrote the article (which my post was based on), I also created a very simple infographic to help people summarize the key ideas in the article. I’m making it available for people who want to continue the discussion with friends and ministry partners. The graphic depicts the significance of having an honor-shame... Read more
In today’s guest post, Martin Munyao shares a powerful testimony about how the gospel changes people from an honor-shame perspective. Having earned a Th.M. from Daystar Academy of Nairobi, he previously served as a pastor and theology teacher in Kenya. He is now working on his Ph.D. at Concordia Theological Seminary. For the past century, conversion into Christianity has meant different things for Kenyans (I guess for other regions in Africa too). During the colonial days, i.e. late 1890’s through... Read more
Here’s a fun demonstration of contextualization. 1 song. 66 different dances. Each fits its context. Learning to dance differently in another context requires work hard. Different moves don’t imply a different song. Similarly, there is one gospel for all nations. Let’s not settle for one cultural expression of the gospel nor make others conform to ours. For more, check out One Gospel for All Nations: A Practical Approach to Biblical Contextualization. Read more
From an honor-shame perspective, the “Plan of Salvation” (POS) has a number of problems. By “Plan of Salvation”, I refer to conventional ways of sharing the gospel. The 5 problems below are extremely oversimplified snippets that I explain and defend more fully in my recent article “Does the Plan of Salvation Make Disciples?: Why Honor and Shame Are Essential for Christian Ministry.” 1. Individualistic The “Plan of Salvation” (POS) makes too little of the church (i.e. Christian collective identity). As... Read more
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